FAQ

What is the ketogenic diet?

The ketogenic diet is a special high-fat diet that is used for difficult to treat seizures. Heavy cream, butter and vegetable oils provide the necessary fat. The diet also completely eliminates sweets such as candy, cookies, and desserts. Other carbohydrate rich foods such as bread, potatoes, rice, cereals, and pasta are not allowed on the strictest form of the diet, but are allowed on more liberal forms of the diet. All foods must be carefully prepared and weighed on a gram scale. Each meal must be eaten in its entirety for the diet to be most effective. The Classic diet consists of a ratio in grams of fat to non-fat (protein and carbohydrates) of 4:1 and 3:1. The modified ketogenic diet consists of ratios of 2:1 and 1:1.

What is ketosis?

Ketones, B-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), acetoacetate (ACA) and acetone, are the by-products of fat breakdown. Ketones can be used by the tissues, including the brain, in the body in much the same way as glucose, and are thought to be a superior fuel source to glucose. Being in a state of ketosis refers to having elevated blood levels of ketones.